Stop Time, I Want To Get Off
by Fiercest
Summary: Sakura needs no one to take care of her, Naruto's growing up too fast and Sasuke is, as usual, the problem.
1. Chapter 1

Stop Time, I Want To Get Off

Summary: _Sakura needs no one to take care of her, Naruto's growing up too fast and Sasuke is, as usual, the problem._

* * *

It used to be that Naruto understood her best. Sakura hasn't been a mystery to him since they were fifteen years old. He always liked to say that Sasuke was his best friend, but in the boy's absence it was said in the self-affirming way that only the insecure need. His devotion to Sakura, and her love and friendship in return, are a given.

For almost a decade, she was the most important person in his life. And he left her behind, again.

He's with Hinata now. A wife supersedes a sister, it's the way of things. But that doesn't stop the guilt.

Because he doesn't know what's going on with her lately.

 _He promised her nothing would change. She promised him everything would._

Ever since Sasuke came back from his globetrotting, she's been different. _Well… she was different while he was gone, but she's a different kind of different now!_

Team dinners are strained and awkward. She's quieter, in a simmering sort of way. She tells them she's busy, and she is. More than she's ever been in her entire life. She runs the hospital and the paediatric mental health facility. AND she goes on missions. AND she functions as a diplomat to Suna. There's more going on in her life than ever before, but somehow they never talk about it.

Has he been that remiss?

 _Yeah, actually._ When he said he wanted to be Hokage, he hadn't thought about everything he'd have to give up to do it. Mostly his time. And with him and Hinata trying for a baby at the same time, something was bound to fall by the way side.

He hates that it's Sakura.

It's official, he's gotta do something.

.

.

It's a sunny Monday afternoon when he deputizes Sasuke.

"No."

"Come ooon!" Naruto whines. "Without me around who's gonna make sure she's eating okay-?"

"She's a doctor-"

"And who's gonna tell her when she's taking on too much? Or make sure she's not sleeping in on-call rooms."

"I really don't think-"

"-OR ALIVE EVEN?! WHAT IF HER CATS EAT HER?! Who's gonna make her laugh when she's sad because she lost a patiennnnn…neeeever mind, look who I'm talking to here. Never mind, I'll ask Ino."

"Wait."

Naruto turns and grins.

"I'll do it."

"Awesome."

Sasuke hesitates, "But what- what if I- I don't know that I can." Naruto has developed enough tact to wait. "She's upset with me."

"What'd you do?" At Sasuke's flat look: "Lately."

Sasuke sighs and runs a hand through his fringe, pushing it back to reveal his eyes. They're sad.

"Listen, Sakura's okay. She's the strongest person I know. I'm not goading you this time. If you don't think you can do it, or don't want to do it then that's fine. You owe her a lot, but you don't owe her this."

"I owe her everything."

The blonde snorts, "Just your life, what's that worth, anyhow?"

It does the trick. He rolls his eyes and shoves him.

"…Sakura doesn't have any cats."

* * *

Migrating some stuff over from tumblr. You can find me there as fiercyy!


	2. Chapter 2

Stop Time, I Want To Get Off

Summary: Sasuke _returns home and strikes up a friends-with-benefits arrangement with Sakura._

* * *

 _Part deux_

Funny how it never occurred to him that home would move on without him.

He left when he was thirteen and was somehow able to accept it back then. When he saw Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi again two years later, he wasn't surprised. He'd anticipated those changes; yearned for them, even. In Orochimaru's clutches, during the brief moments between bone-aching exhaustion and fitful sleep, he would think of them and wonder. He'd speculate on what they had become in his absence.

Nothing could have prepared him for the reality, but he was prepared for a change.

Sasuke left again at seventeen. He was gone for two years.

When he left, Konoha was a husk. Smoldering embers on a familiar horizon.

Now it is the beginnings of a metropolis. The traditional, classic façades have mostly been torn down, but some are preserved with modern innards. The streets are paved differently, more even. The walls are higher and stronger.

The people are different too, less afraid. The tragedy of war is far enough in the past to be processed. Heroes walk among the old cobblestones and the new blacktops with their heads held high and nods for their neighbors, whose names they know.

Kakashi is much the same as he has always been. He's better at his job now, comfortable with his responsibility. Grief was a cloak he wore well for his whole life. Sasuke's former teacher looks healthier with the Hokage's robes draped on his shoulders.

Naruto is married and isn't that its own special brand of insane? He's quieter, a little more thoughtful. Still his same sunny self, but tempered with the security and surety of attaining the love and admiration he's always wanted.

Sakura… Well, isn't it always Sakura who changes the most? She's just as sweet, just as funny. The letters they exchanged while he was away made him more aware than ever of the life teeming beneath the surface of her smiles. She confided her frustrations, silly jokes that her friends had groaned at, the goings on of their friends. But she hardly talked about the big things. If she had leftover pizza for breakfast, he would hear about it-

But he didn't learn about taking over for Tsunade or the pediatric mental health clinic or her ails and ills from _her_.

The day he returns, he doesn't go to Hokage tower right away. For reasons that are clear only to him, his feet carry him to Sakura's apartment. He finds the door locked, but remembers the key. She had given it to him shortly after he was freed from prison. She promised that it was his to use whenever he needed; that her home was his.

Inside, everything is covered in a thin film of dust. Everything is the same, except for some new pictures on the walls and different knickknacks on the shelves.

His heart beats faster and breath comes short.

It feels wrong to stand in her living room, with the curtains drawn- with the dwelling empty of its occupants. _Where can she be?_

He licks his suddenly dry lips and gulps for air. It never occurred to him that he would not find her here.

Later he'll learn that she has taken a sabbatical from ANBU (when had she _joined_?!) to take a diplomatic mission to Suna, where she is beloved by the Sand Siblings and the people alike. He'll learn that she is doing very well, negotiating deals, trades and treaties as if she were the Hokage herself. He'll learn that she's due home any day now.

He'll know in his heart that there's no way she could have known he'd be back today. He'll feel guilty for being upset that she wasn't here waiting for him, that she wasn't where she was _supposed to be_.

But for now, he panics. He thinks the worst. It's the way of his world.

.  
.

He paces.

Sakura is a few days late. Kakashi assures him this is a common occurrence. Sasuke blames Kakashi wholeheartedly for the legacy habit.

Sakura is a few days late. Sasuke has so many things he needs to say to her and she is late.

So, he paces.

"They told me I'd find you here, but I didn't want to get my hope up."

Sasuke startles and looks up. For the first time in two years he lays his own eyes on Sakura. She's standing in the middle of her entryway, still in her mission clothes. He hair is pulled up in a ponytail at the crown of her head, bangs pushed to the side to reveal her seal. She drops her bag at her feet and rests her right fist on her cocked hip. "Say it," she tells him. "You know you want to."

"Welcome back." And he almost wants to smile.

But then, she's grinning wide and holding out her arms, "Come here, bring it in." he complies and can no longer find it within himself to hold back the smile, not while he's holding her and her arms are thrown around his shoulders.

It's a friendly hug, very platonic. Unbidden, all the feelings he's spent his solitude processing simmer to the surface. Just as he reaches his boiling point and opens his mouth to say what he's been psyching himself up to say-

She pulls away.

.  
.

Staying with Sakura means living in her space. He's become accustomed to her clutter, her scent and her singing at the top of her lungs when she forgets he's there. It means he overhears more than he'd have preferred.

She forgets he's home a lot, he supposes he should be pleased that she's so comfortable but…

She's clattering around in the kitchen, Ino is on speakerphone so she can keep her hands free. The shrill woman prods her about an old fling in Suna, and whether or Sakura she saw her while she was there.

"I mean, we bumped into each other once or twice, but it was very civil. I was very clear when we started."

"Trying not to break any hearts?" Ino teases.

"I don't have time to acquire any. I barely have time to see you, or Naruto, or anything or anyone outside the hospital. I don't need to waste my time. Right now, I just want-"

"You're thirsty."

"Shut up."

"You need someone to quench your _lusty lusty urges_!"

"INO!"

"You wanna hit it 'n quit it."

"Control yourself."

"I'm just saying-"

"Good _bye_ Ino." The bleep of her hanging up is soon succeeded by a more frustrated banging of pots and aggressive grumblings. "I am not hard up. I'm not. I'm not!"

.  
.

This doesn't apply to him. This has no impact on his life. He does not care.

Oh hey, except he does.

Because he's spent two years missing her, wanting her. He always thought he'd come back, acclimate awhile and they'd pick up where they left off: on the cusp of something more. She had always been so patient, steady in her love and regard.

She still loves him, he knows she does. But he wonders if he waited too long, if the passion she felt for him had cooled and tempered into _mere_ friendship.

.  
.

This is not friendship.

This is something else.

Her hands are hot on his abs. One slides up his sternum and pushes him down onto the bed, while the other drags blunt nails lower, into the trail of dark hair leading down down down. Her eyes sparkle with mischief, her smile is wet from his kiss.

He's frozen on the bed, unwilling and unable to interrupt her plans.

She leans down, aiming for his neck, but he just wants to kiss her again. He rears up and captures her lips, lone right hand grasping at the back of her neck, pulling her up and forward. She tastes like a laugh and feels unattainable, even as her whole body is bare to his eyes.

With another tug, she falls from her knees, to her stomach. They are chest to chest, pressed up against each other in an embrace so tangled that he feels victory in her inextricable place in his embrace.

When they're like this, he can almost believe it's real. More than it is. He can pretend that she'll sleep here tonight, that in the morning he can kiss her awake. He can fabricate a shared life for them and treat it as a someday instead of a _probably never_.

"Thanks, I really needed that."

Out of breath and laying beside her, staring at the ceiling, Sasuke wants to scream. _STOP THANKING ME, YOU ANNOYING-_

But then Sakura turns her head ever so slightly to look at him and he's caught up in her again. _How had he never noticed how beautiful she is?_

Then she's sitting up and not even a little bit shy in her nakedness. Sakura scoots off the bed to look around for her clothes and laughs when she spots her shorts on the ceiling fan. She jumps up on the bed and strains to reach it. Her fingers barely grasp one leg and as she yanks it down, he does the same to her. She falls into his lap and beams through messy bangs. Sasuke tilts his head up, like he's greeting the morning sun. She kisses his cheeks and nose. He closes his eyes and lets himself pretend.

"Okay, I've gotta go," Sakura sighs and pulls on her shirt. She tries to get up, but he holds fast. She beats a gentle fist against his chest and giggles. "Seriously, I'm tired. I've got an early shift."

"Stay here," he offers.

An unreadable expression stoles over Sakura's face before it's quickly replaced by a patronizing look. "No thanks. Maybe I'll see you next week?"

"You're in Suna next week."

"Oh," she frowns thoughtfully, "Maybe the week after that then. Bye!"

Maybe he's waiting, maybe he's not. Is it still waiting if what he's waiting for may never come?

* * *

Migrating some stuff over from tumblr.

Feedback = yay!


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